If anyone under 55 thinks the election changes anything for their future, they are pretty much wrong. The details may have changed. They may face even more reductions in their old age benefits, rather than even greater tax increases. They and their children may be living with a deteriorating, third world infrastructure rather than groaning under the weight of more debt. If they choose to work for the government, they may have their pay and benefits cut to fund the enriched retirement benefits of those who went before, while those who went before do less and less work because they are “underpaid.” But one thing has not changed.

Generation Greed will not be asked to give back anything. Neither will producers of public services, who have become richer and richer in total compensation compared with everyone else not on Wall Street. Governor-elect Cuomo proposes scaling back retirement benefits, but only for future public employees, while the public employee unions are allowed to provide worse services. The retired will continue to pay vastly lower taxes on the same income than workers, workers who will later face poverty without retirement in their own old age. Republicans in Congress say entitlements must be “reformed,” but those reforms cannot affect anyone age 55 or over – cannot affect the best paid generations in U.S. history. In fact, they owe their electoral success in part to promising to eliminate the modest restrictions on Medicare spending the Democrats put in place. Will anyone talk about this? Will anyone at least force them to admit it? Will those under age 55 finally wake up, or will Generation Greed be allowed to keep taking and taking – without paying?